No. 14 Pearl River picks up 10th straight win in sweep

Jaxon Dunaway - PRCC Sports

POPLARVILLE, Miss. — The No. 14 Pearl River softball team completed a clean sweep over Meridian Wednesday as the Wildcats took game one 11-6 and followed that up with a walk-off run-rule of 10-2 in five innings. With the sweep, PRCC has now won 10 games in a row and swept five consecutive series.

"We made a small change with our lineup for this series and we saw the difference with some more runs," head coach Christie Meeks said. "It allowed us to get a little bit more production in the bottom of the lineup to get us back to the top."

GAME ONE

Pearl River (28-9 Overall; 12-2 MACCC) was powered by a five-run second inning to open an early lead over Meridian (20-23; 5-11). The inning began with back-to-back doubles from Gracey Harbour (Batesville; South Panola) and Peyton Hoffmayer (Ocean Springs). After a hit-by-pitch, Emmaleigh Theriot (Prairieville, La.; Dutchtown) tripled into left field, scoring two.

Ana-Grace Garcia

A four-run bottom of the fourth was capped off with a Maeli Ben (Conehatta; Newton County) inside-the-park homer that escaped a defender's diving attempt. Cailey Pervel (Carriere; Pearl River Central) scored, 9-1 PRCC.

Harbour continued her hot evening, coming into pitch at the top of the fifth and striking out two Eagles. Harbour then led off the bottom half with her first collegiate homer, making it 10-6 Pearl River.

The Wildcats added one more run in the fifth and closed the game, winning 11-6.

Lizzie Meeks (Ripley; Pine Grove) got the start for the Wildcats, spinning the ball through 4 1/3 innings. She was responsible for six runs and five earned. She picked up six strikeouts, allowing eight hits and one walk. Harbour finished the game with 2 1/3 innings of work, striking out four, giving up one hit and allowing one walk. At the plate, Harbour was 2-for-4 with a double, homer, and two runs scored. Natalee Eaves (Louisville; Choctaw Central) went 3-for-4 with a triple, three RBIs, and a run scored. Kai Goodman (New Orleans, La; John Curtis) had a double and came across to score four times.

GAME TWO

Ana-Grace Garcia (Baton Rouge, La.; St. Joseph's) set the tone in the second game, starting off with three straight strikeouts. On the opposite end, the Wildcats began their hitting with three consecutive singles, scoring one run. The fourth single of the first inning came from Caitlyn Riche (Walker, La.), scoring the third run of the inning. The Wildcats led 3-0 going into the third.

Sandwiched between three more strikeouts, the Eagles climbed back with two runs before Pearl River scored five in the bottom half of the third inning. A couple of singles and hit-by-pitches were the highlights as Pearl River led 7-2.

Goodman delivered the game-ending blow with a shot into the outfield, scoring Alexa Womack (Prairieville, La; Dutchtown) as the Wildcats walked off with a 10-2 victory. 

Garcia went all five innings, picking up 10 strikeouts along the way. She had one earned run while allowing just two hits and no walks. Womack was 1-for-2 with a double, three RBIs, and a run scored. Ben was 1-for-2 with an RBI and two runs scored. She also reached on a hit-by-pitch.

NEXT UP

The Wildcats are back home on Friday against Itawamba. First pitch is set for 2 p.m.

TICKETS

Tickets are available now at PRCCAthletics.com/tickets. Fans can purchase in advance for $8. The price increases to $10 on game day.

TUNE IN

All home Pearl River baseball games are livestreamed for free at PRCCMedia.com/Gold. Fans with Roku, Amazon Fire or Apple TV devices can also watch the Wildcat broadcasts by downloading the "Pearl River CC" channel from their app stores.

For the latest on Pearl River Community College athletics, follow us on X (@PRCCAthletics) and Facebook (PRCCAthletics).